Punky Reggae Party: A Primer in roots

I’ve been listening to reggae on and off since I was five years old. I remember waiting around at the neighborhood barbershop and seeing the dreaded out guy with a guitar with this amazing voice. I asked my mom who it was. She told me it was Bob Marley. That seed was planted. I had a chance to see Third World when I was seven, but due to circumstances I wasn’t able to. Years later, I guess around 14 when I was getting focused on guitar and I saw an advertisement for the Bob Marley compilation “Legend.” When I saw that commercial, it was like being introduced to an old friend. It was “Hey Sketch! Remember your friend from Jamaica, Reggae? Well, he’s back in town and wants you to show him around.” Well, during my musical awakening. I was rummaging through my dad’s CD collection and I found a copy of Bob Marley’s Legend. Total coincidence.

Now to explain to the ignorant McNugget that doesn’t understand why I’m doing something on reggae/ska on a blog that’s main focus is punk rock. Okay, 4 piece, here’s the deal. In 1977, there were a lot of British punk bands who saw reggae as an influence on there music and/or found a musical kinship with the genre.
For example, Aswad played the British punk scene, the English Beat came from friends who noticed Ska and punk being played at a party and fused together to create “The Beat.” But, for legal reasons they toured under “The English Beat” in some countries, The Clash did a cover of the Junior Murvin classic “Police and Thieves.” I can go on about this, but, the main focus is my recommendation on albums and compilations you should pick up.

Legend by Bob Marley and the Wailers

Legend is a greatest hits compilation of Bob Marley & the Wailers songs. A mix of songs that expressed love, political uprising, the struggles of people affected by African diaspora and many other topics that molded reggae into what it is now. It is the best selling reggae album of all time. In fact, it went diamond in the U.S.

Dub Reggae Essentials

When I was delving more into reggae and learning more about recording techniques. It was inevitable that I would discover dub reggae. So, I found a compilation called Dub Reggae Essentials. When I put it on my CD player, it was like looking into a parallel galaxy. But, with this galaxy, there were different planets called “dubs.”

These dubs were stripped down remixes that focused on the drum and bass of the original song. In some cases, it included a DJ toasting (toasting is like the Caribbean cousin of rapping) but was mainly instrumental. But, with the drum and bass, there were echoed remnants of guitar and keyboard chords, snare hits and whatever instrument that was prominent on the original song. This is a great primer for people that are interested in Dub. This includes mixes by Scientist, Lee Scratch Perry, King Tubby, Mikey Dread and many more producers who are pioneers in remixing, electronica and recording techniques.

Pure Reggae compilation

A basic primer that has the main artists of the reggae genre. It’s an equivalent to a cheap “how to draw cartoons” book that you would give to your niece or nephew to see if they like it in comparison to the more expensive book on cartooning that you would give them if they show interest and promise as an artist. Either way, an okay primer on pop-reggae, roots reggae, rocksteady and dancehall that contains cuts but Jimmy Cliff, Chaka Demus and Pliers (Pliers not Plies), Lord Creator and Dawn Penn.

Dancehall Xplosion 2000

Okay, this was what got me into Dancehall/Ragga. I was introduced to Red Rat, Wayne Wonder, Spragga Benz and the concept of riddims. Riddims (or as we would call ‘em “beats” stateside) are the drum and bass tracks that fuel ragga. Many DJs (or as we would call MC’s in the U.S.) toast or sing-jay over a riddim. There can be thousands of versions of one riddim. Sleng Teng, Diwali, Playground are only a few riddims that have hundreds of versions of them.

American Ska-Thic

A Compilation of mostly mid-west Ska/Punk and third wave ska revival bands with cover artwork by my buddy Evan Dorkin. On this compilation, you have a buch of great stuff from bands like Mustard Plug, The Toasters, Johnny Socko and Gangster Fun to name a few. I loved this compilation.